The Last Prayer? - Christians in the Middle East

As ISIS and other extremists threaten, enslave and kill Christians, is their history in the birthplace of their faith coming to an end?. ‘There is a global war against Christianity’ states Timothy Radcliffe, former master of the order of preachers. According to a Vatican report, 100,000 Christians are martyred every year. Others are harrassed, raped or attacked, and subjected to forced displacement and the destruction of their places of worship.. Nowhere is the problem more severe than in the Middle East. Under Saddam Hussein, almost 1.5 million Christians lived in Iraq. Today, there are less than 200,000. ISIS have vowed to cleanse the areas they control of Christians and even outside the caliphate, Christians are regarded with suspicion and seen to represent the West.. But despite the threats, some Christians are reluctant to leave. As one explains, ‘If minority groups start to leave, other minorities will become more vulnerable’..